last week during secretary clinton's final appearance before the senate foreign relations committee, she said -- and i quote -- "every time that blue and white airplane carrying the words "united states of america" touches down in some far-off capital, i feel again the honor it is to represent the world's indispensable nation. madam secretary, you have truly honored us with your indispensable leadership. and on behalf of all of our senate colleagues, we want to thank you for your extraordinary service to this country. and i want to say that your position will be in capable hands with our colleague and your former colleague, senator john kerry, who will serve as we confirm him in the next 24 hours as the 68th secretary of state. senator kerry has served in this senate in a distinguished amount of public service since 1985. he grew up traveling the world with his father in the foreign service. he fought in vietnam and was awarded the bronze and silver stars along with three purple hearts. i know he is going to build upon and continue the legacy and the extraordinary record of secretary